This weekend Jeff and I tried our hike to Sky High Lakes and Summit Lake a second time. I guess the third time will have to be the charm for this one.
We drove up to Yreka on Friday and got to the ranger station in Fort Jones just in time to get our campfire permit for the year. The lady who issued our permit mentioned that there might be snow on the trail, but we weren't sure her information was accurate or relevant to us (she was reporting information given by rangers and didn't seem familiar with the trail herself). We decided to proceed with the hike regardless.
We spent the night in a motel and got on the trail by about 9am on Saturday morning.
The trail was lovely and felt easier than it had last year, both because the temperature was more comfortable and because Jeff had new boots (and therefore complained less). The streams were deeper than last year but still passable; we encountered a few snow patches at medium elevations but nothing to worry about.
And then, at about 5400 feet, we hit serious snow. The first bit wasn't too bad; we only had to cross about 30 feet of snow before hitting dirt again. Of course, the trail only goes up, and the snow only got worse. When we hit a larger snowfield, 3 feet deep or more and wide enough for us to lose the trail in a serious fashion, we turned back. It was just about 1pm when we turned around.
On the way back down, Jeff smelled smoke and saw haze in the air. The lady at the ranger station hadn't mentioned any controlled burns, which means a wildfire. We started thinking about what we would do if we got caught — not a happy thought! (Our best plan: strip off all our synthetic clothing, use wet cotton underwear as a mask, and lie in a stream under the theory that cold water doesn't burn.) For the moment we simply hustled, which was all we could do. When we heard and saw birds, we found that reassuring as well.
We made it back to the car by 5pm, tired but still in good shape. Jeff thinks we were 4.5 miles in before turning around; I think it may have been more like 4 miles. Either way, we hiked 8-9 miles that day. (Our planned destination was 6 miles in, and we had already gained most of the elevation.)
We got a better view of the smoke plume on our way out, and we saw a vulture (possibly a turkey vulture?) beside the road as well.
We tried to report the fire at a country fire station and at the ranger station, but both of them appeared closed, and we couldn't find anyone. Finally Jeff went into a gas station in Fort Jones and was thanked for his concern but told that in fact it was a controlled burn, and all the locals knew about it. Fine, but it would have been nice if someone had told us!
Jeff drove all the way back to Yreka, where we checked back into the motel and were coincidentally given the same room as the previous night. Jeff showered before dinner, but I abstained because I needed to stay awake until I ate. We had dinner at the Black Bear Diner next door, which serves large portions; I had meatloaf (four slabs of meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, bread, and soup) and polished off almost everything, unusually for me. Jeff stayed to pay while I returned to the room for a shower and bed.
The next morning, we were both a bit stiff, but my feet and hips hurt much more than my legs. I guess the meatloaf had done its work. We absorbed another protein-rich breakfast (corned beef and eggs for me) and loaded the car. We weren't quite ready to head home yet, so we decided to stop by Lassen Volcanic National Park for a day hike on our way home.
We happened to get a really nice view of Mount Shasta on the way as well.
At Lassen, we stopped at the Loomis Museum and learned about the history of the area, including the 1915 eruption that prompted the creation of the national park. We asked a ranger about controlled burns (now a standard question, after having been stopped by them twice this year) and about our planned hike (to Bumpass Hell). No controlled burns, fortunately, but Bumpass Hell is closed due to snow and likely won't open until July. The ranger suggested the nearby Crag Lake trail instead (1.8 miles one way), so we took that.
Signs at the museum and at the trailhead informed us that there had been recent controlled burns, but there were no active fires on the day we went. We started our hike at a little after 1pm and reached the car again just after 4pm.
Does anyone know what these are? We found these strange flower-looking things protruding from the dirt beside the trail, but they didn't seem to have visible stems like flowers usually do. There seemed to be flies buzzing around, but I don't know whether that's relevant.
On our way out, we took highway 89 through the park and got some more nice views.
The rest of the trip was boring highway. We ate on the road (I had meatloaf again, though not quite as much as Saturday night) and reached home at about 10pm. We haven't even unloaded the car yet; we just showered and fell into bed. (Okay, I uploaded photos to Flickr first.)
Overall it was not a bad trip, although I would have preferred not to be stymied by snow. We're going to try the Marble Mountains again this year, possibly in September when the weather should have cooled off a little but there won't be any snow yet. That's the plan, anyway...
Flickr photo set for this hike: Marble Mountains and Lassen VNP - Jun 2008.